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July 1 1924.

J. B. LADD RETRACTABLE PIPE SUPPORT Filed June 12, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1ATTORNEY July 1, 1924.

J. B. LADD RETRACTABLE PIPE S UPPORT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 12,1923 ATTORNEY July 1, 1924. 1,499,620

- J. B. LADD RETRACTABLE PIPE SUPPORT Filed June 12, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOI? rm Am A TTOHNEF Patented July 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES B. LADD, or ARDMO'RE, PENNSYLVANIA,- ASSIGNOR TQIUNITED STATEScAs'r' IRON PIPE & FOUNDRY COMPANY. OF BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY,A-ooRroRa- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

. RETRACTABLE Totall whom it may concern? Be'jit known that 1, JAMES B.LADD, a citizen'ofthe United States of America, and resident of"Ardmore, in the county of Montgomery, in the State of Pennsylvania,

have invented certain new and useful Impr'ovemen'tsin Retractable PipeSupports, of' which the following is a true and exact description,refer'e'ncebeing had to the accom panying drawings, which form a partthereof. p

My invention relates, generally speaking, to mechanism used: foreXtracting-castpipes from" the molds and is' particularly designed foruse in connection with metallic centrifugalmoldsfifor casting pipes.Specifically, my invention relates to mechanism for supporting pipesasthey are drawn from the mold and-immediately afterward, the object of myinvention being to provide pipe supporting means which will be retractedfrom operating position as the pipe gripping mechanism approaches themold and will be brought to operative position as the pipe grippingmechanism is retracted, drawing the pipe from the moldso as to afford asupport for thepipe' during and after the drawing: operation. H p

The naturep'f my improvements will be with th'e drawin-gsfin which theyare illustrated andin which-'- p Figure l is a plan view of. a plantcomp si ee' rif gal c ng-im n m.p p drawing" mechanism and myimprovedpipe supportingmechanism, details being omitted on v account ofthe small size of the drawing which are fully supplied in other figures.

Figure 2 is a' side elevation of the mecha ni'sni shown' in Fig. 1, withthe pipe draw; ing mech'anism shown in retracted position.

Figure 3Qis asimilar side elevation with the ipe. drawing mechanismshown approaching the mold and the pipe supportingdevice's retracted. v

Figure 4 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the pipe supportingmechanism and theliinmediately connected operative devices.

Figure "5 is a side elevation of the devices shown in Fig. {with thecarriage supportingithe'pipe'rgripping mechanism shown in Applicationfiled June 12,

best understood as described in connection PIPE SUPPORT;

1823. Serial No. 644L954.

the pipe supporting deviceishown in operar tive position with a pipesupported-thereonand the carriage shown in retracted position.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional-view. takeii as on the line 7-7 of Fig.6,but showing; also a rear view of the carriage. I

Figure 8 is a' cross sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Figure 9 is a detail view as onlth eline 99 of Fig. 10, and F Figure 10is a detail view showing the man ner in which the pipe supportingrollers are C indicates the end of the mold projectin'g:

from the casing B. D indicates ai'motor having a shaft D provided with aworm D which engages with the worm wheel 1) on the shaft D which shaftalso supports the pulley indicated at D around "which andthe" pulleyindicated at D extends the wire rope or chain indicated atD which issecured to the casingB through a;'-'lug.;in dicated at D so that-thesaidcasing can-be advanced and retracted on the track A'. d indicatesanother motor having a-shaft d, a worm wheel similar to the worm wheel Dwhich engages a gear wheel'don a shaft; which also carries the pulley (iaround whi'chjpulley extends the wire-"ropeorfcha'in (i one end of whichextends around the pulleys indicated at Z and is connected to thecarriage E,as indicated in Fig s.-2 a nd-3', whilethe other end isconnectedtoa bracket d secured .to the carriage E. i

E indicates a carriage having wheels E which" run on' the track A,said-- carriagev supporting a longitudinally adjustable grip? ping headindicated at E? andlaterally movinggrippers indicated at E. Theparticular gripping mechanism supported by thecarriage forms no partofmy present invention and is, therefore, not shown detail. vTo the frontof thecarriage are-see cured the ,pivot bars indicated at;

pivotedat' E and carrying at their ends -or toward the mold and one ofthe rollers ard indicated at G.

rollers indicated at E. To the rear end of the carriage are securedsimilar pivot bars 0*, pivoted at e and carrying rollers e.

F is a shaft pivoted in the frame of the ma chine to which is attached acounterweighted lever indicated at F and a lever F carrying pivot pins Fand F located as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, to which are pivotallyconnected the links indicated at F and F F and F indicate stop latchesformed on the lever F by which its movement is limited. G is a shaftpivoted in the frame and to which are secured levers indicated at G andG2 and also a pipe supporting stand- The links F and F are "connected,as shown, to the standard G and the lever G so that when the parts arein the position shown in Fig. 6 they form a toggle, tending to hold thestandard G in its upright or operative position, while, at the sametime, they are capable of assuming the position shown in Fig. 5, whenthe standard is retracted or turned down, as shown in that figure. Thelever G? is of such length Q that,*when the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 6, it lies in front of one of the rollers E on one ofthepivot bars E.

Some distance in the rear of the described parts place the shaft 7''having attached to it a counterweighted lever f and a lever'f and Iprovide links connected with said leverexactly as described withreference to the shaft F. I also provide another shaft, indicated at g,to which shaft is attached the pipe support indicated at g and'a lever gsimilar in construction and attachment to the support G and lever G andI attach pivotally to this shaft 9 a le ver arm 9 which is connectedwith lever arm G on the shaft G by a rod indicated at I.

At a point still further to the rear I place a shaft J having attachedto it a lever arm J which is connected to the lever arm g by a rod I.

To the tops of the supports G and g I secure pipe supporting rollersindicated at H, H. These are pivoted on pins H projecting from slides Hmoving in guideways H and adjustable by means of screws,

as indicated at H F gs. 1 and 2, I have shown the carriage carrying thepipe gripping mechanism in-retracted position and the pipes support-v"ed on the supports G 9 This pipe is removed andthe mold and mold casingcarrying afreshly"cast pipe is brought to the position indicated inFigs. 1, 2 and 3. The carriage'E is thenmoved toward the left E'f comesin contact with the upper end of thelever g which lies in its path, asindicatedin Figure 6, with the result that this lever andthe support gis moved from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 5,while, at the same time, the counterweighted lever f and the lever f isshifted to the position shown in Fig. 5, and I so apportion the weightof the support g with reference to the weight and leverage of thecounterweight lever f that when the parts occupy the position shown inFig. 5 the force of gravity will hold them in that position. Theconstruction illustrated enables the carriage E to move over the supportGr without contacting with it and its forward movement toward the leftbrings it in contact with the upper end of the lever Gr with.

the effect that this lever, the support Gr and the counterweightmechanism connected thereto is shifted from the position shown in Fig.6, to that shown in Fig. 5, enabling the carriage to move over this partof the mechanism without contacting with it and approach the end of themold. The pipe gripping mechanism is then made to en gage the pipe andthe car E is moved toward the right, drawing the pipe from the mold andas one of the rollers 6 comes in contact with the upper end. of thelever g occupying the position shown in Fig. 5, this lever is movedtoward theright to the position shown in Fig. 6 and, through the rod Iand the lever G', the support G is drawn to operative position, as showninFig. 6, so that the pipe being drawn out of the mold will rest uponthe rollers H which afford a support for it and protect the mold to agreat extent from the friction of the pipe being drawn from it. When theroller e comes in contact with the upper end of the lever J it movesthis lever to the position shown in Fig. 6, and through rod I draws thesupport 9 to its operative position, as shown in Fig. 6, so that whenthe pipe is entirely removed from the mold it is sup ported on the twosupports G? and g, as shown in Fig. 6 and. can be released by thegripping mechanism and withdrawn in any convenient way.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: Y

1. In combination with a pipe mold and means movable towards and fromthe mold for drawing a pipe therefrom, retractable means for supportingthe pipe as it is drawn from the mold and means operating in v ated bythe outward movement of the carriage whereby the pipe supports aresuccessively move-d to operative position.

3. Mechanism for supporting cast pipes as they are drawn from a moldcomprising a guideway for a carriage, a carriage supporting pipe,gripping mechanism movable to and fro on said guideway, pipe supportingmeans pivotally supported below the guideway so that they can be turnedto operative position or to inoperative position out of the path of thecarriage, means connected to said pivoted supports for retaining them ineither operative or inoperative position and means actuated by the 15moving carriage whereby the pipe supporting means are successivelybrought to operative position as the carriage draws a pipe over them andretracted in advance of the carriage as it moves towards the mold.

JAMES B. LADD.

